Elimination Chamber 2025: I Can’t Believe It

Elimination Chamber 2025
Date: March 1, 2025
Location: Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee, Wade Barrett

It’s the last big show before Wrestlemania and that means it is time to set up the rest of the card. In this case we are going to be seeing a pair of the show’s namesake matches to find out some #1 contenders. Other than that, Sami Zayn and Kevin Owens are going to have a heck of a fight and Cody Rhodes might sell his soul. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at the Chambers, with a bigger focus on the men’s match and John Cena in particular. In addition, Rock is trying to get Cody Rhodes to be his corporate champion in exchange for his soul. Kind of high stakes if you think about it.

Women’s Elimination Chamber

The winner faces either Rhea Ripley or Iyo Sky (facing off for the title in two nights on Raw) at Wrestlemania. Liv Morgan is in at #1 and Naomi is in at #2 to get us going. The bell rings and here is the returning Jade Cargill, who has Morgan panicking. Cargill jumps into the Chamber and….jumps Naomi, absolutely massacring her with a pump kick into the wall of a pod. Belair is losing her mind inside her pod and Cargill sends Naomi head first into the Chamber wall before walking out. Morgan laughs at Belair as Naomi is declared unable to compete, meaning she’s out.

Belair is in at #3 and she’s all shaken up, only to strike away at Morgan. The handspring moonsault misses and Morgan stomps away in the corner. Belair fights back up and now the moonsault connects to leave them both down as Roxanne Perez is in at #4. Perez strikes away in the corners but Belair pulls her out of the air. That’s fine with Perez, who tries to tie Belair’s hair into the Chamber wall. Morgan is back up to take out Perez and hits a running knee to Perez back inside.

A double clothesline leaves both of them down and it’s Bayley in at #5. She pulls Perez into the pod and rams her into the wall over and over. Bayley isn’t done and sends Morgan into the cage before going into some standing switches with Belair. The running sunset bomb sends Belair into the corner for two and the top rope elbow connects for the same. Perez is back up to take Bayley down though and a frog splash gets two.

Morgan is the only one standing as Alexa Bliss is in at #6 to complete the field. Bliss choke shoves Perez down and hammers away but Morgan breaks it up. Perez is back up to send Bliss into the Chamber wall but Bliss grabs a backbreaker for a breather. Back in and Belair and Bayley pull Bliss out of the air and plant her down, only for Belair to hit the Stunner over the ropes to put Belair down.

Perez is back in with a spinning faceplant to Bayley into a crossface so Bayley rolls outside and rakes the hands into the wall to escape. Perez says that Bayley was never her role model and tries a moonsault, only to hit raised knees. The Rose Plant is broken up though and Morgan hits a quick Oblivion to elimination Bayley. Morgan and Belair climb on top of a pod, where Belair uses the hair to whip Morgan down. Belair dives onto the other three and all four are down on the outside (with Morgan showing off a crazy welt from the hair whip).

Back in and we get a Tower Of Doom with Bliss getting the worst of it, leaving them down again. Morgan is back up to take Perez down though and Twisted Bliss is good for the elimination. That leaves us with Bliss vs. Morgan vs. Belair, with Morgan hitting Belair with Three Amigos. They trade rollups until Bliss gives Belair the Sister Abigail DDT, only for Morgan to roll Bliss up for the pin.

We’re down to two and Morgan uses the hair to whip Belair into the wall over and over for another near fall. Morgan’s top rope Codebreaker doesn’t seem to do much as Belair spears her down for two. Belair takes her outside for some swings into the wall and pod for a crazy power display. Back in and a 450 hits Morgan’s knees but Belair is right back with the KOD for the win at 29:13.

Rating: B-. This got better near the end but I wasn’t feeling much in the way of desperation or urgency here. The action was good, but it felt like they were just having a match which happened to be in the Chamber and happened to be for a Wrestlemania title match. It should have felt like they were going after it more and that just never happened.

That being said, Belair getting the title shot is a good choice as she’s more than a big enough star, but DANG there was something overshadowing her here. Cargill’s return and absolute massacre of Naomi was outstanding and absolutely stole the show, even though I’m having a hard time believing Naomi is some kind of a criminal mastermind in the whole thing. Oh and GEEZ with the welt on Morgan after the hair whip. That was nuts.

We recap Trish Stratus/Tiffany Stratton vs. Nia Jax/Candice LeRae. Stratton is the new Women’s Champion and took the title from Nia Jax, who isn’t happy. Stratus didn’t like the bullying and is here in her hometown to help fight them off.

Trish Stratus/Tiffany Stratton vs. Candice LeRae/Nia Jax

Stratus hammers on LeRae to start and sends her outside where Stratton takes over. LeRae manages to send Stratton into the steps though and we head back inside. The Annihilator is broken up and it’s back to Stratus for a tornado DDT. Jax plants Stratus for two and holds her up for a running dropkick from LeRae. Jax does something like a reverse Stinkface to Stratus and LeRae gets to stomp away a bit more.

Stratus fights up and gets in a shot of her own though, allowing Stratton to come in and clean house. An Alabama Slam plants LeRae and Stratton spinebusters Jax for the power display. Back up and Jax gets to clean house but Stratus catches her on top with a super bulldog. The tag brings Stratton back in and she cleans house, setting up the Prettiest Moonsault Ever to pin Jax at 11:39.

Rating: C+. Yeah this was fine as the next step in the “PLEASE LIKE STRATTON BEFORE SHE FACES CHARLOTTE, PLEASE!” plan. They’re trying to turn her into the new popular star and that’s going against quite a bit of the grain with her entire presentation. As usual, Stratus continues to look like she could hang with anyone today, but this was about Stratton finishing off the Jax story and moving on to Wrestlemania.

We get a long video on the Rock’s career accomplishments, which I guess is to show Cody Rhodes what he could have, but feels far more like Rock getting to brag about himself.

We recap Kevin Owens vs. Sami Zayn. Owens is annoyed that Zayn didn’t help him win the WWE Title at the Royal Rumble and attacked him, injuring Zayn’s neck in the process. Zayn is back for revenge and it’s unsanctioned, meaning anything goes whatsoever.

Sami Zayn vs. Kevin Owens

Owens hammers away to start and elbows Zayn down. They go outside where Owens grabs a chair and swings away, only to hit the top rope by mistake, with the chair coming back onto his own head. Zayn unloads with chair shots to the back and grabs a hockey stick. Owens gets beaten down again but manages to deck Zayn, who takes too long grabbing a table. Choking with the stick and a bite to the head have Zayn down and NOW the table can be loaded up.

They fight out into the crowd and Zayn hits him in the head with a trashcan (McAfee: “He just hit him in the head with Dominik Mysterio!” Barrett: “Completely unnecessary but very funny.”). Zayn sends him through some well placed tables and they head back to ringside, where Owens hits him in the head with the bell a few times. Back in and Owens goes up top, where Zayn is right there to hammer away.

That’s fine with Owens, who LAUNCHES him through a pair of tables at ringside. Owens suplexes him through some chairs but Zayn is back with a half and half suplex through a chair. The Helluva Kick hits the referee by mistake as Owens pulls him into the way so here is a second referee for a rather delayed two. Owens drops him as well and grabs another table, only for Zayn to get in a chair shot on top.

For some reason Zayn tries a superplex and gets swung through the table for not doing his Owens homework. Owens yells at Zayn in the corner before going across the ring, allowing Zayn to hit his own Helluva Kick. Zayn pulls out a barbed wire chair for a shot to the back, followed by a drop toehold to send Owens face first into the wire.

The wire chair is bridged onto two other chair and a Blue Thunder Bomb onto the wire gets two more. The Helluva Kick is loaded up but Owens counters into a Blue Thunder Bomb. They head outside where Owens wraps a chair around his neck for two rams into the post. An apron powerbomb brings the agents out to check on Zayn so Owens does it again for the win at 27:36.

Rating: B. This took some time to get going and could have been a bit shorter, but once they started getting into the violence and just trying to hurt each other, it worked very well. These two have such a history together that it makes sense for them to want to destroy one another every so often, which is what we saw here. I’m sure they’ll be back as friends one day, but for now, Owens continues to feel like a monster and that should set him up for a showdown at Wrestlemania, likely with Randy Orton.

Post match Owens goes back to beat on Zayn some more….and Randy Orton is back. Orton lays Owens out and loads up the Punt but the agents break it up. Security takes some RKO’s.

We recap the Men’s Elimination Chamber, which is a look at the six entrants and how all of them need to win, featuring quite the intense narration.

Men’s Elimination Chamber

For the shot against Cody Rhodes at Wrestlemania. Drew McIntyre is in at #1 and Seth Rollins is in at #2 to get us going. Rollins goes right after him to start but gets slammed onto the barricade for a nasty crash. McIntyre is sent into the Chamber wall as Punk talks trash from his pod. A clothesline puts McIntyre back inside the ring and Rollins catches him with a springboard knee to the face.

Paul has a marker to write various taunts on his pod wall as McIntyre tilt-a-whirl backbreakers Rollins for two. McIntyre plants him on the floor, stops to look, and then hits a catapult throat first into the turnbuckle. With Rollins down, Damian Priest is in at #3 and immediately slugs it out with McIntyre. A Razor’s Edge toss sends Rollins outside but McIntyre cuts off the dive attempt.

Back in and Rollins cuts off a Claymore with a superkick, only for McIntyre to German superplex both of them down for a big crash. Logan Paul is in at #4 and hits a springboard high crossbody for two on McIntyre. Priest rises up to go after Paul and knocks him outside for some punishment on the Chamber wall. Priest rope walk hurricanranas (geez) McIntyre down and Rollins is back up to superkick Paul for two.

John Cena is in at #5 and gets to clean house with an AA and ProtoBomb but walks into the Claymore. Priest is right back up to roll McIntyre up for the quick pin though in a bit of a surprise. The ticked off McIntyre hits a Claymore on Priest though, allowing Paul to hit the frog splash off the top of the pod for the pin. CM Punk is in at #6 to complete the field and immediately strikes away at Paul, who was waiting on him. A suplex drops Paul and Punk climbs the Chamber wall to point at the sign.

We get the big Punk vs. Cena showdown but Rollins cuts Punk off and yells at Cena that Punk is his. Cena isn’t having that and breaks it up, only for Paul to come back in and take out the two of them. Paul’s Buckshot Lariat misses Punk, who is back with the GTS to eliminate Paul and get us down to three. Punk and Cena pin pong Rollins back and forth, setting up a Hart Attack for one of the weirdest things you’ll see in a good while. Cena and Punk have their big showdown and hug before slugging it out.

The GTS is loaded up but Cena reverses into the STF. That’s reversed into the Anaconda Vice but Cena escapes as well. Punk dives onto Rollins and then high crossbodies Cena, who muscles him into the AA for two. Rollins is back up to send Cena through a pod and Pedigrees Punk for two, leaving everyone down. Another Pedigree on the floor is broken up but so is Rollins’ superplex. Punk drops the top rope elbow but the GTS is countered into the buckle bomb and a Stomp gets two.

Cena is back in and tries the AA on Rollins, only for Rollins to escape and land in the GTS. An AA gets rid of Rollins and we’re down to Punk vs. Cena in a heck of a showdown. A handshake lets Punk pull him into a GTS for two, followed by Cena’s AA connecting for the same (Punk’s kickouts are getting a bit hard to handle in this match). Punk staggers up but gets Stomped onto the steel by Rollins in a nice surprise. The STF goes on and Punk is out to give Cena the win at 32:40.

Rating: B. Once we got down to big star vs. big star, this was great stuff and came together well. Cena vs. Punk is one of those rivalries that will always work because they’re such opposites in so many ways and it made for a great moment with the respect into the fighting. Paul losing so quickly was a bit of a surprise, though Punk blocking what is better known as Hangman Page’s finishing move seemed like something of a wink and a nod. Rollins vs. Punk vs. Reigns is probably coming at Wrestlemania, but Cena getting one more main event works too.

Post match Cena thanks the fans and here is Cody Rhodes for the showdown. Cue Travis Scott (rapper) for a cameo so the Rock can do his big entrance. Rock tells Cody that it’s time for him to do it, meaning it’s time for a big hug. He wants and needs Cody’s soul and if Cody says yes, the American Nightmare lives forever.

If not, then the dream dies again. Cody says he wants it all and his soul doesn’t belong to him anymore…because he gave it to this ring and these people a long time ago. Cody: “Hey Rock: GO F*** YOURSELF!”, but without any censoring (that will never feel right in WWE). Cena huge Rhodes….and then Rock signals to him, meaning it’s a low blow to Cody as Cena is corporate.

Cena steals Cody’s watch and hits him in the face over and over to draw the blood, followed by a belt shot. The villains pose and Rock uses the weight belt a bit before Cena, Rock, and Scott (who was there for the whole thing) leave to end the show, with Cody left a bloody mess in the ring.

Wow. This was this generation’s Bash At The Beach 1996 as it’s one of those things that felt like it would never actually happen. I’m not sure how well it’s going to go, but actually pulling the trigger has kind of blown my mind. It’s a big change of pace and something that has been at least hinted at in recent weeks, but I didn’t think they would actually go there. The show has been over for a bit now and my head is still kind of spinning so I think we can call that a success.

Overall Rating: B+. Let’s get this out of the way: the show itself was good, but the heel turn at the end is going to (rightfully) get SO MUCH of the attention. That’s the kind of angle you only get every few years (if not decades) and it’s setting the stage for Wrestlemania. We’ll have to see where it goes, but for now, things are interesting in a hurry. The rest of the show worked well, with nothing bad and the awesome Cargill attack to get things going. The best thing about a show like this is it leaves a lot of things to talk about next week, and that’s what you want this close to Wrestlemania.

Results
Bianca Belair won the Women’s Elimination Chamber last eliminating Liv Morgan
Trish Stratus/Tiffany Stratton b. Nia Jax/Candice LeRae – Prettiest Moonsault Ever to Jax
Kevin Owens b. Sami Zayn – Apron powerbomb
John Cena won the Men’s Elimination Chamber last eliminating CM Punk

 

 

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6